Pocky & Rocky with Becky for the Game Boy Advance is the fourth game in the Pocky & Rocky series (following on from Kiki Kaikai, Pocky & Rocky, and Pocky & Rocky 2). The game was developed and published by Altron in Japan in 2001 and was subsequently localized and published by Natsume in North America in 2002.
Tag Archives: mythology
Pocky & Rocky 2, Super Nintendo
The sequel to Pocky & Rocky (known as Kiki Kaikai in Japan) was developed by Natsume and published by Ocean Software in Europe (by Natsume themselves in Japan and North America). Pocky & Rocky 2 was first released in 1994 and is a similar scrolling shooter to its predecessor, but with multiple companions, instead of just one.
Crypt Killer, Arcade
Crypt Killer is a three-player, horror-themed lightgun shooter that was first distributed into arcades by Konami in 1995. It uses 3D polygonal graphics for the backgrounds and 2D scaled sprites for the enemies and objects. In some respects it is Konami‘s attempt at producing a House of the Dead-style shooter, although in my humble opinion it isn’t as good as Sega‘s famous horror shooter series.
Super Dragon Slayer, ZX Spectrum
Converted by John F. Cain, from an original Commodore 64 game by John Ferrari, Super Dragon Slayer is a platform shooter featuring an agile magician who must jump, climb and shoot his way – left to right – through four large, scrolling levels. It was first published for the ZX Spectrum by Codemasters in 1989.
Super Dragon Slayer, Commodore 64
Designed and programmed by John Ferrari, with music by Barry Leitch, Super Dragon Slayer is a platform shooter first published for the Commodore 64 by Codemasters in 1988. In many ways this game reminds me of the early days of C64 software, with unforgiving gameplay and instant death if you put a foot wrong. That said, this is still a pretty good game. Just a very difficult one.
Kiki Kaikai, Arcade
Kiki Kaikai (the literal translation being “Strange and Mysterious World“) is a shoot ’em up developed and distributed into Japanese arcades by Taito in 1986. Set in Feudal Japan, the player assumes the role of a Shinto shrine maiden, called Sayo-chan, who must use her ‘O-Fuda’ scrolls and ‘Gohei’ wand to defeat renegade spirits and monsters from Japanese mythology. Sayo’s ultimate aim is to free The Gods of Fortune who have been imprisoned by evil spirits.
Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon, PC
The MS-DOS version of Cinemaware‘s Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon was released in 1989 and it is not a bad game although the fighting sections – it has to be said – are a bit pathetic.
Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon, Atari ST
The 1988 Atari ST conversion of Cinemaware‘s Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon has considerably better graphics than the Amiga original, even though the ST can’t quite display as many colours on-screen as the Amiga can.
Continue reading Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon, Atari ST
Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon, Amiga
I don’t know why, but the Amiga version of Cinemaware‘s classic Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon looks absolutely terrible. The graphics are appalling and the presentation overall is very rough around the edges. Compare it to the Commodore 64 version and it’s easy to see the disparity.
Rastan, ZX Spectrum
This ZX Spectrum conversion of the 1987 scrolling hack and slash arcade game from Taito was developed by Icon Design and published by Imagine Software in 1988. And it’s not bad, but it’s not great either.